Jam Tracks and Black Keys

My guitar instructor recently had me start practicing with a jam track (basically, a recorded song minus the lead guitar and vocals). I’m still learning my way around a minor pentatonic scale, so my improvisation “jam sessions” are halting and awkward, but it’s amazing how much fun it is. As long as I stay on the scale, I can’t go wrong. Any note works. It’s freeing, and powerful, and I’m able to express myself musically in a way I’d never known I could.

If my instructor had said to me, “improvise a melody on top of this track”, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. I would have had no idea where to start or what to do. There are too many possibilities: which strings to hold at which frets, and whether to strum or pluck. It’s overwhelming! But instead he taught me a minor pentatonic scale and said “play any note on that scale while this track is playing”. Suddenly the possibilities were narrowed and instead of feeling straitjacketed, I felt free. I was given power, because my options were constrained.

A similar story: my wife is setting up a new business and one of the things she offers is piano lessons. In preparing to teach these lessons she came across a technique to use with very young children just beginning the piano (though it is awesome for adults, too). You sit them at the piano, hold down the sustain pedal for them (if they can’t reach it themselves), and tell them to play any of the black keys, in any order. The result is remarkably musical, and gives the students a real sense of ability and accomplishment. With no piano training at all you can make something that sounds beautiful! All because you’ve constrained what keys may be pressed.

Sometimes, our options are constrained because of circumstances we have no control over. Obviously, very few of us have unlimited funds or time, and we have to work within those constraints. But whether we choose the constraints or are chosen by them, we can decide to embrace them and find the power there. By embracing them, we grow.

Eventually, we may outgrow those constraints. I won’t always be limited to playing just the minor pentatonic scale. Beginning pianists will learn how to use the white and black keys together to make music. Your business won’t always be on a shoestring budget. But it is a mistake to cast off your constraints too early, or to chafe against them. Make them work for you. Get as much utility from them as you can, for as long as you can.

This makes me think of a conversation I was having with my wife the other day about baby gates. I made the point that baby gates don’t limit our son; they give him freedom. By having limitations (to provide safety) he is able to explore freely any area within those constraints. He may be limited, but he can be (almost) completely free within those boundaries. Without the constraints he has to be carefully watched at all times and within view of an adult which doesn’t allow him freedom to “move about the cabin”.

As with your point, he will outgrow these limitations some day, but for now, they give him more freedom than he could otherwise handle by himself.

I haven’t tried recent versions, but Band in a Box used to be a fantastic piece of software. Type in chords, select a style and you have an instant backing band. The UI is clunky looking, but the output is top notch. It can even generate (quite good) solos in a particular style and trade fours with you.

http://www.pgmusic.com/bbmac.htm

jamie

on 27 Feb 12

The stories are more similar than you realize, Jamis: playing the black keys is also jamming over the pentatonic scale (Eb minor pentatonic or F#/Gb major penatonic).

This reminds me of the paradox of choice. When people have too many choices, they often become paralyzed, not knowing what to choose. The process is tiring and burdensome.

However, few choices make life easier :)

As you said, these “constraints” are not good forever, but they are good until we outgrow them.

GeeIWonder

on 27 Feb 12

+1 for BiB which is as close as I’ve come to a decent jam short of the real deal. For a long time it was the only good option really, though there’s a few out there now and some GPL stuff that gets close.

It’s smart enough to meander a little (if you set it up to), so you have to think/feel/follow the changes which is incrementally more advanced than the old ‘jam tracks’.

I went through the same ‘freeing’ experience when my guitar teacher showed me a similar thing. Although he showed me how it could be expanded to any key, as long as you know the key of the song. Because of this I ended up building a tool and helps you find the keys and then shows you all the notes in it on the guitar strings. Has been loads of fun for me! Check it out! Song Key Finder

great post! interesting thing to think about, is that all musical practice is an exercise in constraints of some kind. some others to try:
playing a simple melody, like “happy birthday”, a bunch of different ways. vary the rhythmic quality, vary the phrasing. bend some notes. make some notes short, others long.

playing the melody to “happy birthday”, but add different bass notes underneath. what does this do to the quality of the song?

play the melody to “happy birthday” twice, starting from a different note each time. how does this change the sound?

Hi Jamis. Most people get caught up on note choice, but it’s rhythm and phrasing that typically make the greatest impact on what we hear. To that end, I’d suggest that you take the constraint even farther and try some single-note/pitch solos. You might think 5 notes is liberating enough, but I’ve found that as soon as note choice enters the picture, beginners tend to disregard any notion of rhythmic interest as they meander up and down a scale. A single note solo (played against a backing track) will force you to explore a variety or rhythms and phrasings because that’s all you have to work with. Once you develop a solid rhythmic foundation, you’ll be able to breathe life into anything you play.

Advisor

on 27 Feb 12

This makes me think of a conversation I was having with a guy in a wheelchair. Someone made the point that wheelchair doesn’t limit that guy; it gives him freedom. By having limitations (to move whichever way) he is able to explore freely any area within those constraints.

Ridiculous, I know…

Johnson & Brothers

on 28 Feb 12

A strong mind can give all the Freedom that you need.

Olivier

on 28 Feb 12

I’d like to second Rick’s great advice above. There is so much you can do with a single note by varying rhythm, volume, attack, vibrato, etc.

I love playing around with the pentatonic scale or the blues scale (pentatonic minor + augmented fourth). I’ve stopped counting the number of famous licks I stumbled upon by doing so.

Have fun!

Peaches

on 28 Feb 12

Lets be honest. You wanted to use the hipster word ‘jam’ in a sentence. so trendy.

Jamis—
Your story of constrained options in music is a good metaphor for software design too. I work with our company’s programmers to design user interfaces for software that will be used by people who generally aren’t very computer literate and not especially interested in computer software. I constantly remind our programmers that even though you CAN perform an action six different ways, it’s important not to make all six equally obvious to the user. It’s best to give our customers one way that will work every time, and then, as they develop confidence, they have the option to explore and find the other five ways. Same thing with features: make obvious only the essential ones; the advanced features can be discovered as the user gets comfortable with the software. It’s all about confidence: mastering a small world gives you confidence to explore larger ones.